Monthly Archives

Syndicate

Thursday, May 02, 2013

AWESOME BELLE RETURNS FOR MAIRZY DOATES

MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. (May 1, 2013) – Jacks or Better Farm, Inc.’s Awesome Belle, a Florida Stallion Stakes winner in 2011 that captured four stakes at Calder during her 2012 campaign, returns to her south Florida home after a three-race winter stopover in Tampa to start in Saturday’s $55,000 Mairzy Doates, run over 1 1/16 miles of turf.

Awesome Belle has amassed $447,137 in earnings during her career with $431,497 of that money won at Calder. In addition to her Stallion Stakes victory in the 2011 My Dear Girl Division, the daughter of Awesome of Course has also won the Frances A. Genter, Judy’s Red Shoes, Crystal Rail, and Three Ring Stakes at Calder, taking down that quartet of races in succession last year.

In her most recent start, the Stanley Gold trainee was beaten just over a length when fourth in the $75,000 Distaff Turf Stakes at Tampa, and three starts ago was five lengths behind subsequent Grade 3 Hillsborough Stakes Old Tune in the Grade 3 Endeavour.

Awesome Belle has been assigned post two for the Mairzy Doates, which attracted an overflow field of 13, and will be ridden by Fernando Jara.

Drawn directly to the outside of Awesome Belle in post three is Lewis Schaffel, Jim Collins, and Joel Schwartz’s Team, most recently second in a top-shelf turf allowance a Gulfstream Park where she was beaten less than a length by the rapidly-developing Suroof, and was a neck clear of graded-stakes winner Heavenly Landing.

Prior to that performance, the daughter of Empire Maker had prevailed in three of four starts, including a maiden win at Calder last April, with her only defeat during that span coming in the Grade 3 Robert G. Dick Memorial at Delaware Park where she was 4 ½ lengths shy of victory when fourth.

Stride Rite Racing Stable, Inc.’s Frolic’s Revenge, a three-time stakes winner at Calder last year, with two of those victories, the $100,000 Calder Oaks and the $55,000 Sweettrickydancer, coming over the local lawn, will try to add to her Calder successes when starting from post four under jockey Paco Lopez in the Mairzy Doates.

The Milt Wolfson-trained daughter of Vindication boasts an impressive three-for-five record on the Calder turf course, although both of her grassy defeats were sizable ones that came at the sword of fellow Mairzy Doates combatant Awesome Belle.

Other notable entrants in the Mairzy Doates include Brinkerhill Farm, LLC’s Millennia, fourth in this year’s Sunshine Millions Sprint in mid-January; RJM Stables, LLC’s Sweet Little Lion, most recently third in the Distaff Turf; and Frank C. Calabrese’s Celestial Kitten, a Grade 2-placed daughter of Kitten’s Joy last seen dominating a local allowance.